The Avery Children
by everybreatheverymove
Summary: A series of oneshots about my two headcanon Japril kids, Everett and Eliza Avery. Originally posted and loved on Tumblr.
1. The Diaper Disaster

**Everett needs a diaper change.**

* * *

"He's crying again!"

"Did you feed him?" He shouts out from across the living room, hoping his wife will hear him from the nursery.

April picks up little Everett from the crib, walks down the long hallway to join her husband by the window. "Yeah." She breathes with a sigh, runs a hand across the baby's head smoothly, "I think he pooped again."

"Well, can you change him? I'm kind of busy doing the first thing you asked me to do."

Jackson nods his head towards the window leading out onto the balcony, eyes leading her gaze towards the locks and bolts and other mechanical items on the floor.

Safety proofing the apartment was his job of the day apparently.

"I did it last time." She points out anyway, holds Everett out for him to take.

He drops the white plastic key in his hand, pulls his son from her hold gently. "You wanna finish doing this, then?" He grins, lifting the boy up to his face, "Hey bud- Wow, you stink!"

The redheaded trauma surgeon smirks, pulls an elastic band from her wrist and drags her hair into a messy bun. "Told you so."

"Are the diapers-"

She nods, watching him walk off back down the hallway, "On the changing unit."

"And the cream-"

"Next to the diapers."

He thanks her from a room away, heads into the nursery and places Everett down on the top of the changing mat. He keeps a hand pressed lightly against his belly while reaching for a fresh diaper.

"I bet you don't make this kind of smell when it's mommy's turn, do you?"

He squints his eyes at the two-month old, a small growing grin on his lips when the baby smiles.

"That's a no, I take it."

A moment passes before he hears April call out from the living room, "Jackson!"

"Yeah?"

"This is too complicated!"

"You wanna trade? I'll do that and you change him?" He shouts back, tone not too loud as to not frighten his son.

He can hear her giggle to herself from his stand by the changing unit, and he shakes his head when she replies.

"No. I'll just wait until you've finished." She tells him, coming to stand in the doorway of the nursery, arms folded over her chest proudly as she watches the scene in front of her.

Jackson smirks, turns his head to face her as he pulls the dirty diaper out from under the boy's bottom. "Of course you will."


	2. The Christmas Tree

**Japril decorate the Christmas tree with their two year old son.**

* * *

"Mama, can I do the staw?"

April finishes tying one of the decorations on the tree before she looks down, runs a hand over her son's curly hair. "Sure you can. But only when the whole tree is finished, okay?" She smiles when he nods eagerly, "I think daddy has it. Do you wanna go ask him?"

Everett nods, plopping down the tinsel he had thrown over his shoulders onto the floor as he runs off into the hallway.

"Dad?" He taps the older man on the back of his leg where he stretches.

Jackson turns with a smile at that, crouching down to his son's level and dropping the stapler down beside him carefully. "What's up, buddy?"

The smaller Avery's hazel eyes seem to brighten, much like his mother's do when she gets something she wants.

He's a spitting image of what his dad looked like when he was a kid, but his eyes are April's and he definitely has a mix of both of their personalities.

"Do you have staw for top of twee?" He asks innocently, twirling his hands in front of him, much like his father does behind his back when he's anxious, "Mama says you do."

Jackson grins, reaches behind him to pull the box full of Christmas decorations forward. He pulls open the scuffed flaps, raises both brows questionably, "It should be in here." He rummages through the box, feeling his son's eyes burning holes through his skull impatiently as he waits. "Ah!"

Everett laughs then, taking a step back and happily licking his lips when his father pulls up the polished bright gold star. "Yes!"

The older man chuckles, standing up with a brush of his jeans. "Has your mom finished the tree yet?"

The toddler shrugs with a soft pout, quickly stealing the star from his father's grasp before running away in hysterical laughter.

"Hey!" Jackson runs after him with a disbelieving smile, stopping when he spots April stood proudly in front of her precious Christmas tree.

Kepner's have perfect Chrismas trees, is what she always tells him. And this one is no exception.

The decorations follow a deep red and gold colour scheme and she's placed a few leafy green items in places. It's perfect.

Jackson steps beside his wife then, folding his arms over his chest and tilting his head with a smirk, "Nice work."

April nudges his arm, feigns a pout, much like the one their son has mastered, "How's the tinsel hanging?"

"It's… a work in progress." He laughs, watches as Everett jumps up and down as though he'll reach the top of the tree from there on the ground. "Hang on, buddy."

He grabs the boy softly by the waist, hoists him up onto his shoulders so he can near the top.

"How's that?"

April giggles, eyes them carefully, "A little closer!"

Jackson leans towards the tree, resting a steady hand to keep it in place as Everett places the star on top of the tree, as perfectly as his mother always does.

"Good?"

The trauma surgeon smiles, watching the scene in front of her, adoring the way Jackson turns to face her with a gleeful toddler on his shoulders. Their family will be growing soon, she thinks with a grin as she cups her stomach.

"Perfect."


	3. The Little Sister

**Everett meeting his newborn sister for the first time.**

* * *

She's small.

She's small like the size of a football, but her limbs and head stick out.

Everett has to knit both brows as he peeks down at the newborn baby in his mother's arms.

April is sat at the head of the bed in the master bedroom, because she had an emergency home birth and everything was fine.

The new baby is cradled in her arms, with a tiny hat over her fragile head and wearing a babygrow with a cute little "I'm a little sister" written across the front.

"Why is she no' movin'?" He goes to poke at her leg gently until April stops him, holds up a finger carefully with a 'shh'.

Jackson steps into the room behind his son, smiling over at his wife as he claps his hands on top on his head adoringly, "She's sleeping, bud." He looks down at the two year old, who clearly doesn't understand why he has to be quiet.

Everett shrugs then, hops onto his father's side of the bed and into his mother's body. He snuggles closer, stares up at the little baby intently.

"What you thinking?" Jackson sits down at their feet, wraps an arm around April's ankle over the covers. She grins, returns his proud smile.

"I'm thinking that we have the cutest kids in the whole world." She informs him with wide eyes, flickering her gaze back and forth between their children.

The plastic surgeon chuckles, nods his head, "We do. Yeah." He breathes out, glances over at Everett.

"You wanna know her name?"

The boy nods eagerly, shuffles away from his mother and the baby to join his dad. "What is it?"

"Elizabeth." Jackson tells him.

Everett licks his lips then, frowns softly, "E?"

"Yeah, buddy. E." New nickame, or was he just pointing out the common letter?

April tears her eyes off of the newborn cradled in her arms for a moment, "She's waking up."

Everett shuffles back up his parents' bed then, kneels up at his mother's side to look at Elizabeth. He giggles when she hiccups, hand over his mouth with a grin.

"She's cute." He dishes to his parents, now unable to break his gaze away from his little sister.


	4. The Pyjamas and Ice Cream Bash

**Jackson and Everett have a cute pyjama party sort of thing while April is at work.**

* * *

"You gotta promise not to tell mommy, okay bud?" Jackson walks with one arm supporting his three year old son on his side, the other carrying a pretty large tub of ice cream.

Everett grins, nods against his father's shoulders and gleefully plops down onto the bed with a small and happy 'hff' sound.

He holds out both hands, lets his growing sharp teeth graze his bottom lip as he smiles, like one of those super dorky kids off of a television show, "We have ice cream now?"

The older Avery man rolls his eyes with a knowing smirk, settles himself down on his regular side of the bed, comfortably tucks his son in under April's side.

He turns, squints an eye as he carefully watches the toddler remove the lid of the freezing cold tub. "

Jackson holds out two spoons, one big, one small. He lets Everett reach for the larger one for a second, waits until his smaller hand almost grasps the handle, and Jackson moves it backwards with a slight laugh.

"Why can't I have big spoon?" He has big hazel eyes, and he knows how to use them. He must have learnt his tricks of the trade from April, since she's the only one to ever use them to success.

Jackson passes him the smaller spoon then, smugly shoves the empty larger one past his own lips to free his hands. "Because daddy has the bigger one." He grabs the tub of chocolate flavoured ice cream and places the lid down on the table beside him.

"But why?" Everett frowns, almost forces out his bottom lip in a pout.

The plastic surgeon turns to face him with raised brows, watches as the smaller half version of himself sticks his spoon in the dessert and folds his arms over his chest.

"Do you wanna watch the movie?"

"I want da big spoon."

"Bud, you can't have the big one just yet, okay? You need to grow a little bit more for that." He ruffles his son's growing curls, pulls him into his side affectionately.

"Mom woul' let me."

"Well, mom isn't here right now." Jackson flicks him a quick look, picks up the remote to the television and hands it to him. "You wanna press Play?"

"I wan-"

"Okay. Fine." The green eyed man finally concedes, giving in to the almost-pout and the mommy eyelashes. Jackson grits his teeth, though he keeps an amused smile on his lips, "Swap it."

Everett laughs then, quickly turning his frown into a smug grin as he trades his father the little kiddy sized spoon. "You' welcome."

He smiles, little dimples appearing as he settles himself down again, comfortably stretching out his pyjama-clad legs in front of him as he reaches for the remote again.

Jackson stares down at him, "Thanks?" He brushes it off with a chuckle, twirls the small spoon around for a moment before he steals the tub of ice cream, kicks long pyjama-clad legs out the same way his son had.

"Ready?"

"Yeah. You got your fuzzy?"

The smaller Avery holds up a finger, places the slightly oversized spoon between his teeth as he reaches down by the side of the bed, picking up a stuffed grey bunny with specks of white fluff.

"Yep."

"Got my spoon?"

Everett laughs at that, squints his eyes as his cheeks redden, clearly a little bit too proud of himself, "Yep. Got my'?"

"Yeah." Jackson nods, keeps his gaze on his wife's mini-me for a second longer as he starts the movie. "You really wanted a superhero movie, huh?"

The little hazel-eyed boy nods, can't pull his gaze away from off of the television screen in his parents' bedroom. "Uh huh. Mommy say you have Batman pants."

Jackson's face tightens then, brows raising as he hears this news, "Oh, did she?" He shakes his head to himself, steals a spoonful of the chocolate ice cream when Everett isn't looking.

"Yep."

"Alright, buddy."

They only manage to sit in silence for around half an hour, the little Avery in the room eating more ice cream than his stomach can handle and the older one watching on with a slightly amused expression.

It's the opening of the front door that catches Jackson's attention, when he hears the familiar footsteps of his wife's flat shoes and her keys being placed on the hook.

"Mommy's home." Jackson whispers quietly, shoots Everett a knowing look as he's leant forward towards the screen with a mouth covered in chocolate cream and a spoon dangling from his fingertips.

His eyes widen, as though he was a deer just caught in headlights, and he takes a deep and slow breath, dropping his spoon back into the tub.

Jackson moves it aside, places it back down on the bedside table with his spoon. He quickly wipes Everett's mouth with the long sleeve of his top and flicks the movie off.

"Sleep?"

"Yeah."

Everett throws himself down on the bed then, pulls the covers over his head as he ducks beneath them, holding them up so Jackson can shimmy down and copy him.

The pair stay hidden for a second, waiting for the master bedroom door to open and April to come sneaking in.

The redhead giggles to herself, admires the two mismatching lumps beneath the duvet as she folds her arms over her chest, clearing her throat softly.

Everett doesn't budge, just stares across at Jackson with big gaping eyes, moves a finger up to his lips as a sign to 'shh' and keep quiet.

His father nods gently, licking his lips and raising his eyes to the top of the cover, slowly creeping fingers up to grasp the edge of the material.

"Are you hiding from mommy?" There's an obvious grin to her question and April rounds the bed until she reaches her husband's side, dropping her hands onto his waist.

She taps her fingertips there, shuffles along his body until she reaches his shoulders, and her hands have barely pulled on the material of the bed cover before he grabs her by surprise, easily lifts her up and rolls her over to lie between the two of them, earning a shriek of astonishment in return.

"Hi!" She brushes the hair from her face, licks her lips as her husband cups the sides of her face between his hands to kiss her.

Jackson pulls away after a quick second, drops his forehead to hers and shifts his eyes over to the little one still hidden beside them.

April grins with a slight nod, shuffling out from under her husband's hold and sitting cross-legged. She chews her lips, softly pokes a finger at the small clump of human on her side of the bed.

"What's this?" She fakes ignorance, brows kitting as she moves her finger to the top of his head, now peeking out from beneath the duvet. "Is that my baby?"

"Momma!" He suddenly moves then, popping out from under the cover and wrapping his arms around her neck lovingly.

April kisses the top of his head, makes a cute little 'grr' noise that makes Jackson love his family all that little bit more.

"We had ice cream!" Everett reveals, shifting away from her gently but keeping his small hands clawing at her shoulders.

The trauma surgeon gasps in fake shock, turns to face the man beside her with a slight nudge, "Did you?"

"Dude!" Jackson shakes his head. Ever since Uncle Alex had been babysitting him, Everett had a thing for the word 'dude', meaning he liked to be called it for some stranger reason.

The little boy shrugs, reaches across both of his parents to retrieve the tub of ice cream and the spoons.

He plops the tub down between him and his mother, kindly hold out the big spoon for April to take.

"Am I allowed some?"

"Yep."

"What about daddy?" Jackson feigns a pout, leans back against the headboard and throws an arm round his wife's shoulders as she joins him.

April smirks, flicks him a naughty look after she scoops a spoonful of ice cream into her mouth, "Daddy doesn't get any."


	5. The Valentine Thief

**Everett is April's Valentine instead of Jackson .**

* * *

"You bought her flowers?"

Jackson folds his arms over his chest as he stares down at the little boy, eyeing him carefully with a hitched brow.

Everett simply nods, keeps a proud grin on his face, "Yes." He falsely confirms, shrugs his shoulders gently when his mother places the flowers in a vase.

April turns around after a second, shoots her husband a brief smile before looking down at their son.

"What did you by me flowers for, baby?"

She knits both brows, crouches down to his level, resting her hands on his arms.

They sway back and forth briefly and he takes a deep breath ad though he was going to ask for a million dollars.

Which, you know, would actually be possible, too.

"Bailey said it was Falentine's Day and that his daddy was gonna buy his mommy flowers to be his falentine, so I though that you could be mine?"

He pouts, glances down at the floor almost bashfully.

April fawns over that, runs her hands up the five year old's arms until they wrap around him, pulling him into a gentle hug.

Freaking Oedipal complex.

"I would be happy to be your Valentine." She agrees, kissing his cheek softly.

"Are you stealing my woman, little guy?" Jackson shakes his head jokingly when Everett pulls away from his mother's arms to shoot him a smug little look.

The trauma surgeon rolls her eyes, flicks her gaze back and forth between the two of them. "There's enough of me to go around."

"I don't want half, I want-" Her husband begins through gritted teeth, but keeping a smirk on his lips all the while.

"Well, then Everett can get me during the day, and you get me at night." She reasons, eyes wide as she licks her lips, "Deal?"

"Fine." Jackson gives in, walking around the opposite side of the kitchen counter. "I'm sure I'll have Eliza on my side during the day anyway, so…"

Everett shakes his head then, pulls himself onto one of the stools at the island in the middle of the room, "Nope. She asked Uncle Alex."

"Oh, come on!"


	6. The Little Lion

**April and Eliza out on a cold Seattle day and the toddler is wearing a snuggly coat.**

* * *

"Elle, did you put your lunchbox in your bag?"

The three year old nods, shoves her small in her padded pockets as she watches her mother zip up her jacket.

It's grey, and cute, and warm and fuzzy and definitely thick enough to keep her warm.

April smiles at her, flicks her eyes back and forth from the zipper between her fingers to her daughter's blue eyes.

Before they head of the house, they need to make sure they have everything packed.

April usually runs around like a headless chicken for a good few minutes, looking for Eliza's small Disney Princess backpack and her own coat, and she slips her door keys off of the hook just before they leave the house.

Eliza coughs once, twice, as they step out onto the front porch, and she holds out a gloved hand for her mother to take.

The surgeon turns around after locking the front door, stashing her keys back in her bag and taking her daughter's hand with a grin.

"You ready to go?"

"Yes."

The little auburn haired girl stresses the 's' and nods, blinks a few times like her father usually does when he's focused on something.

"Can we go fo' clotheses?"

Because, at three years old, she's already a shop-aholic, almost the opposite of her mother but much like her father with his sneaker obsession.

"Nah, sweetie!" She giggles, walks alongside her daughter down the front steps and by their car. "We've got to take you to school."

It's a cold winter's day. Jackson and Everett had already left the house earlier that morning because the little boy was going away on a field trip and needed to be at the meeting point by 6AM, and Jackson decided to go into work early.

April had other ideas. She was going to spend the morning with her daughter, making pancakes for breakfast (which they did) and then drop her off at pre-school around ten-ish (which she is now doing).

But it's cold, and there's light snow outside so the roads are icy and skin reddens faster than usual.

Eliza sticks her free hand in her pocket and pulls out her small white beanie, and she manages to slip it over her head, patting down her beautiful locks carelessly, followed by the hood of her jacket.

"Okay." She's ready for school, for winter.

"I like your coat, by the way." April beams, looking down at her as they reach the end of the car. She pulls open the door for Eliza to hop inside, and she does.

Her new jacket is a faded dark grey colour, but the hood had a fake fur lining around it that the toddler can't seem to get enough of.

"I'm a lion, mommy." She holds up both hands when she turns back around to face her mother, mouth open, teeth bare and eyes squinting as she lets out a 'raw!'. She's cute, so she can get away with it without it being too cheesy.

The older redhead laughs then, runs a hand over her daughter's hood and pulls her into a tight squeeze after lowering to her level in the car, "Does that make me a Mama Lion?" She whispers jokingly, not expecting it when Eliza pulls back with a nod.

The little grins, reaches forward to pull up the hood of April's jacket to copy her own. And, yes, there's a fake fur hood. "Do it!"

"Raw!"


	7. The Small Soldier

**Everett gets injured and needs to get checked out at the hospital.**

* * *

"He slipped, okay? I was watching him, and I just turned my back for one second, and-" Jackson paces back and forth, avoids his wife's gaze.

She runs a hand down their small son's back, kisses the top of his head as they wait for their pediatrician friend.

"Can you calm down, please?" April's eyes widen, trying to convince him to take a seat and chill. She reaches for his hand, rolls her eyes when he shakes his head.

"I don't-" He pauses, closes his eyes with a deep sigh, runs a hand over his face.

"Everett is fine, Jackson. It's just a few bruises. It's fine, he'll heal." She informs him, as though he'd forgotten she was a trauma surgeon.

"See, Dad? Mom say I fine." The boy shrugs, eyes never leaving his father's.

She'd spent the whole morning watching the emergency room, so watching her husband waltz in with her son attached at his hip was definitely a surprise. It was his day off, and he'd said that hew and gonna take Everett to the park to learn how to ride a bike. Clearly it didn't end too well.

The plastic surgeon ignores her quip, continues to walk back and forth along the side of the hospital bed. "Where the hell is Karev?"

The baby blue curtain pulls open just then, revealing a pretty relaxed Alex. "What'x up, little fella?" He pats Everett on the shoulder, removes his hand when Jackson shoots him a death glare.

April stands up then, places a hand against her husband's chest, "Come on. Let Alex do his job." She sighs when he refuses to move, "I told you it was just a sprain."

"I'm not leaving him alone." Jackson frowns, swallows a breath and shuffles closer towards his son.

Alex smirks, "Dude, listen to your wife. She already told you it was nothing major. He'll be good to go home in like five minutes." He smiles, "Right, 'Rett?" He holds a hand up, waits for the little boy to high-five him in reply.

Everett smacks the larger man's hand with a laugh, nods his head for a second longer than necessary. "Right!"

"Jackson, please." April pouts, tugs on his forearm again to pull him away from the bed. "Let's go get some coffee, he's in safe hands."

"If he-"

He fails to protest, letting himself be dragged out of the room by the redhead.

She swats his chest after pulling the curtain back shut, squints up at him carefully. After a second of thought, she finally asks, "Where did you put his bike, by the way?"

"Jesus, April, that's the least of my worries right now! Alright? Geez." He shakes his head in disbelief, throws his arm around her shoulders the way he always does out of comfort, "I left it in the park. I'll just buy him a new one."


	8. The Chicken Box Blackmail

**Everett gets the chicken pox and Jackson stays home to look after him.**

* * *

It's not just that he's itchy, he's _extremely_ itchy.

Probably more than Jackson had been around his age, when his own mother had forced him into wearing some special mittens tied around his hands to stop him from scratching.

"Bud, you need to stop touching them. Okay?" Jackson turns around from the kitchen counter with a glass of water in hands.

He walks over into the living room area, settles down on the couch next to his son with a small sigh.

"If you keep scratching at 'em, the cream's gonna rub off and then they're never gonna disappear."

Everett pouts softly , sticking his bottom lip out as his brows knit. He folds his over-mitt clad hands in his lap, kicks sock covered feet in and out against the bottom of the couch at the edge of his seat.

"You want some water?"

"Can't hold it." The hazel-eyed toddler shakes his head, mostly to himself in disbelief at his situation. He groans quietly, plops back against the sofa cushions with a small 'hnff' noise.

Jackson licks his lips, stars down at the glass in his hands for a second, "Wanna play a board game?" He raises a brow, hoping to bring the five year old out of his mood.

Everett pulls a blank face, holds up both hands, "Can't grab pieces."

Well, Monopoly is definitely out of the picture since the pieces are too small to hold and place with oven-mitt hands.

The plastic surgeon nods, tugs his bottom lip between his teeth for a second as he squints an eye down at the boy, tries to keep a straight face as he asks, "Want some ice cream?

There's a very enthusiastic nod in response to that one, though neither one of the two are sure how exactly he'd go about eating with a spoon.

After settling down his son with a pretty large tub of chocolate ice cream at their dining table, Jackson rummages through the cupboards for a minute or so, searching for that plastic Avengers bottle with a cap that Everett uses at school.

"Hey, bud, where's your fave bottle? Did your mom move it?"

Jackson closes the cupboard above the stove gently, turns to face the boy with a smile, leaning back against the counter as he watches him balance the spoon skilfully between both padded hands.

"In the dishwasher." Everett tells him, never lifting his eyes from the half-spoonful of chocolate ice cream he'd managed to scoop up.

"Thanks, buddy."

Everett's fully concentrated on his task, not even noticing as his father pulls the clean bottle from the dishwasher and fills it up with the water from the glass, placing it down in front of him.

"Is that better?" The older Avery folds his arms over his chest, brows creasing as he waits for his son to attempt to pick up the bottle to take a sip.

He swallows a few sips, parts his lips after he drinks the fresh water with loud 'ah!' to confirm his satisfaction.

"Perfect!"

"Alright!" Jackson grins, sits down in the seat opposite him, twirls the second spoon around in his hand for a moment. "Still itchy?"

"Yep." Everett looks up at his father then, pulls a wicked little grin, "Can I scratch them, please?" He bats his eyelashes the same way he knows April does, the same way he knows works on his father, "Just quickly?"

"Nope."

"What if I tell mommy you gave me ice cream?" He giggles to himself, drops his eyes back down onto the tub of dessert.

He keeps his hands together, somehow manages to bring up another spoonful of ice cream up to his proud little mouth.

"You wouldn't dare." Jackson squints, taps his spoon against the table as though he was daring him to try.

Everett shrugs slyly, something he'd picked up from both of his parents whenever they wanted something, "We'll see."


	9. The Cootie Kiss

**Japril are being lovey dovey in front of their kids and grossing them out.**

* * *

"Gross."

The small but advanced three year old pulls her face when she watches her daddy kiss the tip of her mom's nose.

"Cooties." She raises her shoulders, stares down at her ice cream.

The boy beside her nods in reply, frown across his forehead and throwing a disgusted look at his parents, "I know."

Across the bench, April pulls away from her husband, rests her head against his chest comfortably. She smiles, runs a hand in circles across his stomach. Looking over at her children with a grin, she pauses. "Hey. What's wrong?"

Eliza Charlotte Avery pouts, places the bottom of her ice cream cone down on the wooden table as she answers, "You 'n daddy. Cooties."

"Cooties?" Jackson laughs across the table, wraps his arm tighter around April's waist. His daughter is smart, probably more than most three year old, probably a little less than his son was at that age.

The redhead giggles, reaches a hand across the table to push the cone up from the bench top, "They're not cooties, Eliza." She smiles at their daughter, "It's love."

It's Everett time to pipe up then, shuddering and avoiding his parents' gaze, "Gross." He repeats his sister's words, licks a little of his dessert.

His hazel eyes daringly peek up to meet his mother's matching ones and he bashfully smiles.

April tilts her head to the side, "Why is it gross?"

"Because…" He's seven years old now, and according to Catherine, he's almost the same as Jackson used to be at that age.

"Cooties." Eliza shrugs, looks into her father's eyes. Her green eyes are a perfect match to his green ones, but she has more of her mother's complexion and personality.

"Like this?" Jackson leans over, kisses his wife on the lips quickly to tease the kids.

A resounding "Eww!" come from the other end of the table and the parents grin, eye their kids adoringly.

Everett shakes his head, stuffs the final piece of ice cream cone into his mouth. "Stop it." He raises his brows, "Please."

"Umm… No."


	10. The Princeton Mixup

**Eliza wonders if Princeton is the land of all fairytale princes, and if her father is actually prince.**

* * *

Fairytales tell you to have hope. Constant, unwavering hope in the impossible, in true love, in the circle of life.

First come birth. Babies are cute. In fairytales, the baby is usually a princess. She's just been born and some sort of curse is going to be put upon her.

She'll grow up, maybe even reach her early twenties, before she starts to wonder who she is, before she begins to question life, and love, and why nobody is kissing her the way her father kisses her mother.

She may start looking for her prince, searching for that one person who will break the spell.

Eliza pops back to reality when her father closes her favourite book, the cover a pale blue shade with clouds and a glittery castle pasted across a fantastic backdrop.

"The end."

Jackson keeps a hand over the cover of her fairytale book, peaks down at his five year old with a smile.

"You ready to go sleep, princess?"

Everett is harder to put to sleep, so April had taken oh that duty, meaning Jackson was left to took his own little princess into bed.

The little girl frowns as she looks up at him in curiosity, tugs the corner of her mouth into a grimace.

"'Li?"

"Are princes real, daddy?"

The plastic surgeon's eyes widen at that, clearly unsure of what to answer. Is he supposed to lie, or dash her dreams completely?

"Nice men are real." He tries, clearing his throat and tapping his fingers against the book in his lap, "Nice, uh- I'm not sure." Jackson raises both brows.

Eliza sighs, pouts softly, "I want a prince."

"You'll have… someone. One day." He'd never been good at giving out advice, much less to his own five year old, his own flesh and blood, "If you be kind, and go to school, and get good grades. If you do all that, and go to university, then-"

"What's unifersity?" She frowns again, clearly confused.

"It's… school for older people. So you can choose whatever you want to do in life. You know what I mean?"

How does he convey the importance of college to a child?

"If you want to protect people, then you become a lawyer, and you go to Harvard. Or, maybe Princeton, and-"

"Priceton?"

"Princeton." He nods with a small smile, wraps an arm around her shoulders.

She leans against her father gently, tucks her head underneath his arm and closes her blue eyes. "Princeton."

"You like the sound of that one?" He chuckles to himself, looks down at her with an amused expression.

Eliza nods once, twice, parts her lips in a yawn, "Is that where princes go?"

He nods to correct her, to deny it. His mouth opens but the words don't come out.

Maybe she'll fight to get into a great university and she won't have to fall back on their family name. Maybe she can do great things all on her own. Maybe she can follow in his footsteps, and not those of his family.

"Yeah."

"Did you go there? Are you a prince, daddy?" She informs him with a slight nod.

He grins, "I- Maybe?"

"Okay." She gives in, lets sleep take over and drifts her eyes shut as her father switches off the bedside lamp. "Princeton."

"Yeah." He whispers, strokes a hand down her red curls as she falls into a slow sleep, "That's where the princes go."


	11. The Birthday Cake

**The family celebrates Eliza's second birthday and her parents have a disagreement over the cake.**

* * *

"Why couldn't we just buy one?" Jackson slides his arms across the long table, plops himself down onto one of the small chairs.

His wife smiles, flicks open the lid of the baby pink cake box, glances down at the sugary treat carefully, checking to see if any of the frosting had smudged or budged or spread.

"Because it is our daughter's fourth birthday and she wanted a Disney princess cake, and she wanted her Ariel doll to sit in top of it and every baker I found refused to make it. So, as the fine mother that I am, made her a cake myself."

April picks up the silver stand beneath the cake, wrapping her fingers around the base carefully as to not move the rainbow coloured and vanilla buttercream'ed cake as she lifts it out of the box. She pushes it aside with her elbow, makes some space next to the jug of orange juice on the kids' party table.

"Isn't it pretty?" She places it down neatly, spreads her fingers as she leans to inspect it for damaging.

It's perfect, bright colours of pink and white and yellow and green with four pale purple candles stuck in the top of it, waiting to be blown out.

"It's a birthday cake, babe, it's not exactly going on display for the Queen of England."

She runs a hand through her red hair, brushes it behind her shoulders as she continues to stare down at her creation proudly. It took many hours, overworked hands and a restless night to get it just the way she wanted it to.

"Is it like her drawing?" Because, oh, yeah, Eliza Avery could draw. The toddler's animals are brilliantly sketched, but her cake-designing skills had to be the best.

Jackson leans closer, shifts a hand up to his side of the cake and whips a small scoop of the buttercream frosting off on his finger.

April gasps, eyes wide as she watches him lick it off, smug grin on his face. "That's your daughter's cake!"

"Tastes good." He shrugs, feigns carelessness. He watches as she rounds the table, approaches him with a pointing finger.

"Put it back!"

"I just ate it!"

"Jackson!"

"What? Look." He swipes another finger full of the creamy paste, spreads it across her lower lip quickly.

April licks her lips then, folds her arms over her chest as though she was a toddler herself, "You did not just do that!"

"Hey, you licked it." He smirks, green eyes twinkling before they snap towards the entrance, noticing his daughter walk into the room. "Hey, princess!" Jackson stands, hands to his hips as he ignores April's pissed off expression.

"Daddy!" Eliza runs over to her father, wraps her arms around his thighs as she closes her eyes contently, "Can I blow out my candles now?"

The plastic surgeon raises both brows, wraps an arm around her lowered shoulders, "I think we need to ask mommy about that one."

April smiles, beams down at her husband's adorable little sidekick with a cheery grin, nods her head the way, "Of course."

She takes Eliza's hand, leads her around to the other side of the table so she can join her friends, already sat waiting for a slice of the cake.

"Daddy already started anyway." She mutters under her breath, slides the cake-cutter from off of a high shelf.

Jackson blinks, "Daddy's hoping mommy still has some of the delicious buttercream left for later." He teases her, steps closer to her side to join his family in their small celebration.

"If daddy even thinks that mommy's gonna let him eat her buttercream, then she's gonna take this knife and cut-" April grits her teeth as she talks, bats long lashes up at her husband jokingly until he cuts her off.

"Where's your birthday tiara, huh?" Jackson suddenly exclaims, stopping her from finishing her sentence in front of a bunch of kids.

He shakes his head, picks up the glittery silver princess tiara from the corner of the table and hands it to his daughter, smiles as she positions it comfortably on her head.

"Perfect." April perks, "How about daddy lights the candles now before I burn his-"

"Where are the matches?!"


End file.
